Matt Damon fights for the soul of America in the trailer for 'Promised Land'
Gus Van Sant's latest was recently added to the season
Matt Damon in "Promised Land"
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Not to be outdone the day after Fox Searchlight dropped "Hitchcock" on the season, Focus Features would like to remind everyone of its own last-minute addition: Gus Van Sant's "Promised Land." The film, starring and written by Matt Damon and John Krasinski, has launched its first trailer and it's clear it's dealing in shades of shifting American values. That could be very powerful this season.
Anne and I had a discussion about "zeitgeist" films in this morning's podcast, and though films like "Argo" and "Zero Dark Thirty" will speak to that, something like "Promised Land" -- which seems to be telling a story of the capitalization of the country on the backs of its citizens -- couldn't be more relevant. Not to put too much pressure on it, but that could be catnip.
Van Sant's last brush with Oscar came for Focus's own "Milk" in 2008. Nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Film Editing and Best Original Score came knocking, as well as wins for Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay. What will his latest yield? We'll find out soon enough.
Check out the new trailer below, courtesy of Apple.
"Promised Land" opens in New York and Los Angeles on December 28.
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2012-2013 OSCAR PREDICTIONS
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Original Screenplay
Best Cinematography
Best Costume Design
Best Film Editing
Best Makeup And Hairstyling
Best Original Score
Best Original Song
Best Production Design
Best Sound Editing
Best Sound Mixing
Best Visual Effects
Best Animated Feature Film
Best Documentary Feature
Best Foreign Language Film
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Login or create a HitFix account Login Signupbrendan bowles
September 21, 2012 at 3:46PM EST Reply to CommentLove the plot and cast, not crazy about the cinematography.
velocityknown Agreed, just because people live in the country doesn't mean their world is desaturated. Every mining and farming movie looks like this.
September 21, 2012 at 5:58PM ESTPrettok Absolutely. 1984's The River had a depressing 'times are tough for people of the land' message too, but it still allowed the countryside to look like something worth fighting for.
September 21, 2012 at 9:46PM ESTGautam
September 21, 2012 at 6:51PM EST Reply to CommentNaah .. Oscars are not going to happen for this. It looks like one of those feel good movies. May be a screenplay nomination if the film is good. Box office results might have helped but it's releasing too close to the nomination dates.
Dillon Universal always makes lowest common denominator trailers, so at this point award prospects are hard to know. Apparently the screenings are going well.
September 22, 2012 at 10:10AM ESTJake
September 21, 2012 at 6:55PM EST Reply to CommentDamon looks promising as usual. Not very impressed by the trailer though, its bland.
/3rt
September 21, 2012 at 8:27PM EST Reply to CommentThe optimistic music ruins the sober tone of the movie their selling.
/3rt The optimistic music ruins the somber tone of the movie they're selling.
September 21, 2012 at 8:31PM ESTKristopher Tapley I'm gonna go get the papers, get the papers.
September 21, 2012 at 11:38PM ESTAl Its the way of the future. Its the way of the future.
September 21, 2012 at 11:50PM ESTJonnybon
September 21, 2012 at 8:35PM EST Reply to CommentWouldn't be surprised to see this falling out of your Good Bets section round about now.
lugubrious
September 21, 2012 at 10:25PM EST Reply to CommentThe picture Damon with the flag backdrop needs to be poster. And on my wall....
Elk
September 21, 2012 at 10:41PM EST Reply to CommentShouldn't this look better than it does? I don't see any "wow" factor in play. Where is its pedigree or Oscar worthiness?
Mykill I tend to agree with you on this. I know it's just a trailer, but I can't say anything about that motivated me in any real way to see the film. We'll see how things turn out, but I have a feeling that this might be the film of the season to suffer from the too little too late curse. It looks like a film that might've been wiser to distribute as a commercial play in the Spring as a counter-programming adult drama, as opposed to a "last out of the gate" awards play. But maybe once it comes out then it will actually deliver the goods...
September 22, 2012 at 2:08AM ESTMaxim I don't think this is a right way to look at dramas of this sort. It's not about having a "wow" factor. That is, basically, the whole essence of the "adult" part. Obviously, this isn't intended as an insult.
September 22, 2012 at 12:27PM ESTSkeller Pedigree? You mean Van Sant's 2 Oscar noms and 2 DGA noms, and Damon's 3 Oscar noms and 1 win aren't pedigree enough?
September 22, 2012 at 5:49PM ESTdaveylo
September 22, 2012 at 7:14AM EST Reply to CommentThis film would have played well in Toronto. Whether it's Oscar worthy or not, I want to see it.
miny
September 22, 2012 at 10:40AM EST Reply to CommentIt has an Indie feel to it. I like it.
Maxim
September 22, 2012 at 12:21PM EST Reply to CommentDesaturated or not, I really liked the trailer. It's like "The Trouble with the Curve" for the rest of us.
It seems to have that Cameron Crowesque vibe to it and I dig it.
Dane
September 22, 2012 at 1:09PM EST Reply to CommentThis was filmed near my hometown in western PA, and they even recruited my old high school's basketball team to use as extras, so I've been curious to see what all the fuss (at least in the local newspaper) was about. I'm sure everyone's hearts were in the right place, but this trailer comes off as a wee bit insincere and condescending.
John G.
September 22, 2012 at 4:10PM EST Reply to CommentI'm not sure how many more movies we need about companies being evil.
Also, John Krasinski? Hard to take him seriously in this role.
/3rt Corporations have gotten more dangerous since the first studio production dared to cast them as villains. And it's much easier to join the populist and not see this movie theatrically as they will certainly stay away not because they feel compassion for corporations but because this kind of movie is boring to them. Also whenever they view on display is left-leaning they reject as being told what to think except they want to be told what to think when Fox News does it.
September 23, 2012 at 11:33AM ESTEdwin I don't really know if it's fair to claim that the populist is comprised of Fox News-watching sheep, particularly because I'm not even sure most people decide whether or not to see movies based on their politics. I'm sure there are a few people who actually bought into the whole made-up controversy about "The Muppets" trying to brainwash children with an anti-corporatist agenda or "Brave" promoting homosexuality with its "obviously" lesbian protagonist (both of these theories were indeed put forth by Fox News), but the box office numbers seem to suggest that most people paid no attention to that nonsense. Even a movie liked "Promised Land" which looks to actually have a liberal message probably won't truly be avoided by the mass public, at least not for political reasons. I know a lot of conservative-minded people who will see any George Clooney movie even knowing that he's a huge liberal. I don't think most people pay that much attention to politics in movies unless they're really pounding home the message like in a Michael Moore movie.
September 23, 2012 at 4:42PM ESTSo yeah, I realize the country is politically divided and there's a lot of animosity on both sides, but I would bet that only the crazy extremes avoid all movies that don't share their political beliefs.
Laura Stewart
September 22, 2012 at 11:16PM EST Reply to CommentI for one think it looks amazing and Gus Van Sant tends to thrive when focusing on social issues in his films. Plus, I welcome any film with a somber looking Matt Damon. Will this be the year where Ben Affleck AND Matt Damon are reunited at the Oscars? Here's hoping!